Compromises Expected On Alien Bill

October 12, 1986|By WILLIAM E. GIBSON, Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate leaders appear headed this week for compromises on immigration reform that would legalize most illegal aliens who have lived in the United States since 1981 and provide $1 billion a year to the states for absorbing them.

These and several other issues in the immigration debate remain unresolved, but leaders who met in a conference Saturday seemed intent on settling any conflict that would undo the immigration reform bill in the last days of the congressional session.

``People have been willing to accept half a loaf or three-quarters of a loaf in order to get a bill,`` said Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

No formal agreements were reached Saturday.

Nearly all now expect final passage of the bill, but some significant obstacles remain:

Many House members, especially those from Florida, continue to press for the whole loaf -- 100 percent reimbursement -- to state and local governments for health, education and other social costs of absorbing several million aliens who could come forth asking for legal status.

But they are unlikely to get the whole loaf.

The Reagan administration, fearful of runaway spending, has signaled its opposition to full reimbursement and even the possibility of a veto if it remains part of the bill.

The Senate bill would offer legalization to those illegal aliens who have lived in the United States since 1980, but only after a special commission issues a report on whether the nation has controlled its borders effectively. The House version would set the date at 1982 and require no such commission report.

The earlier the date, ``the more people hanging out there in limbo,`` Schumer said.

``Everyone at this table is united behind legalization, but the American people are not,`` Simpson said. ``Sad but true.``

A more difficult dilemma will be whether to accept a ``sunset`` provision that would end the law`s employer sanctions provision after 6 1/2 years from enactment. The sanctions would be imposed against employers who knowingly hired illegal aliens, and would be the bill`s enforcement mechanism.

The House added the sunset measure to mollify Hispanics and others who fear the sanctions would lead to job discrimination against legal Americans who merely look foreign to employers. The Senate bill contains no such provision.

The House bill also contains provisions that would create a special counsel to investigate and impose penalties on employers who discriminate against legal Americans. The Reagan administration opposes both House provisions.

Some form of anti-discrimination provision is expected to become part of the bill.

The Senate bill would allow up to 350,000 temporary guest workers to pick perishable crops. The House bill would allow up to 350,000 foreigners who have worked here in agriculture in the past to become legal American residents to continue that work.